Winter Season of Troubles and Success for Whooping Cranes

Although there is a record population of endangered whooping cranes at their wintering grounds at Aransas NWR in Texas, it has been a “frustrating winter.”

The known population of 270 wild cranes – 232 adults and 38 juveniles – is a record number, according to Tom Stehn, the whooping crane coordinator with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

However, “the total numbers are a disappointment,” he said. “Thirty-eight juveniles added to the population of 266 could have resulted in 304 whooping cranes arriving at Aransas. If 270 is a reasonable estimate of what did arrive, it means 34 whooping cranes, or 12.8% of the flock, died between spring and fall, 2008.”

Conditions not documented at Aransas in 26 years, have made it a difficult wintering season along the gulf coast of Texas. In an update, Stehn noted:

1) “Natural marsh foods were at low levels due to the prolonged drought. Blue crabs were present initially, (an important food source for whooping cranes that make up 80-90% of their diet when available), but crab numbers dropped off through November. Blue crabs were scarce throughout December and January as tides were lowered by low pressure systems and most of the remaining crabs moved out into the deeper bays.

2) “The fall wolfberry crop was very low, a food that the cranes normally rely on heavily. Thus, the cranes were ill-prepared to face the scarcity of crabs.

3) “Marsh salinities have remained above the threshold of 21 parts per thousand that forces cranes to seek out fresh water to drink.”

So far this winter, five whooping cranes are believed to have died, Stehn said. A necropsy of the two carcasses recovered showed the birds were emaciated, indicating a lack of sufficient food. During a typical winter, there is none, or just one, death.

“Whooping cranes are being seen in unusual places this winter, Stehn said. “Many have left the salt marsh and are feeding on uplands. Up to four cranes foraged daily in the farm fields north of the refuge through December. A record 21 whooping cranes are wintering on the Lamar Peninsula utilizing game feeders in locations where we have never seen cranes before.

“Due to the food shortages, the unusual distribution of cranes observed, and the two emaciated crane carcasses recovered, supplemental feeding of whooping cranes with corn on the Aransas / Matagorda Island NWR complex has been initiated and will be continued for at least one month. Prescribed burns have also been conducted to provide additional foraging opportunities.”

These actions have been taken by refuge officials to help nourish the cranes, and provide a boost to their physical condition to avoid potential nesting problems this breeding season.

“Research done by Dr. Felipe Chavez-Ramirez in 1994 documented that up to 37% of the whooping cranes failed to nest following a poor blue crab winter at Aransas NWR,” Stehn wrote in his report.

Other unexpected behavior has been juvenile cranes separating from their parents. This occurred with two birds at Aransas. A third bird spent the late autumn and early winter in south-central Nebraska, departing in early December for Oklahoma, and remaining there until late January.

Crane biologists’s currently do not know the whereabouts of any of these birds. Juveniles typically remain with their parents through the winter season.

The whooping cranes will remain in the area of Aransas NWR until they depart sometime in the March for the 2500 mile flight to their ancestral breeding grounds at Wood Buffalo National Park, in the Northwest Territories Province of Canada.

The group of cranes in Texas is a population distinct from the cranes that are the result of a program to reintroduce this species to the eastern states.

“There are now 73 migratory whooping cranes in the wild in eastern North America,” according to Fish and Wildlife Service officials, “including the first whooping crane chick to hatch in the wild in Wisconsin in more than a century. Many of these cranes have settled into their wintering locations in parts of the Southeast, including Georgia, Alabama, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Florida. State partners from Wisconsin, Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee, Alabama and Georgia provided strong support throughout the migration.”

A group of seven cranes, led by an ultra-light sponsored by Operation Migration, recently arrived at St. Marks NWR in Florida, after a successful journey of more than 1200 miles from their summering grounds at Necedah NWR in Wisconsin. Additional cranes are at Chassahowitzka NWR, north of St. Petersburg.

This article was published first at Blogger News Network

Birds Struck Dead by Overhead Wires in the 1860-70s and Beyond

The American woodcock is a signature species to denote the historic origin of birds striking wires, and getting killed by the collision. Scattered reports occurred in the mid-1860s, and a document published by the U.S. government conveys some of the original details.

"Many are the specimens I have seen which were killed by flying against the telegraph wire; but this is not so surprising, as the wire is not easily distinguished at any distance," wrote Dr. E.G. Elliott, of New York, in a section on the game birds of the United States, in a report from the Commissioner of Agriculture in 1864.

Various accoutrements of civilization spreading across the west wrought further changes, some which were revealed as being a sudden detriment to the lively existence of wild birds of the plains. Notably, communication was of utmost importance so telegraph wires were strung about in many places to facilitate spreading details of messages for railroads, and the burgeoning news of those days.

Some of the first documented causes of deaths due to birds striking "invisible" wires were on the western grasslands with vast cerulean skies which had never before been diminished by obstructions for communication and for-profit business.

The changes were readily documented.

One of the first notations of wire strikes was by Joel A. Allen during an ornithological reconnaissance of the west. The journey - for the Museum of Comparative Zoology - started at Fort Leavenworth on the west side of the unhindered Missouri River, then continued westward through Kansas and beyond to Utah. During December 25, 1871 to January 12, 1872 while in the northwestern Kansas region - westward from Park's Fort Station, on the Kansas Pacific Railway, to Grinnell, and from the Smoky River on the south to the head-waters of the Solomon River on the north - there were brief comments relating how the telegraph wires harmed prairie larks.

The account for Eremophila alpestris - Horned Lark - said they were "abundant everywhere, but especially numerous along the railroad and near the settlements."

An important aspect of the exploration was collecting study skins, and this task was obviously made easier by the wires along the railroad: "A number were also obtained that had maimed themselves by flying against the telegraph-wires at Coyote Station."

Brief years later, Elliott Coues wrote in-depth about "the destruction of birds by telegraph wires" after observations while traveling on horseback from Denver, Colorado, to Cheyenne, Wyoming in 1876.

His article in the American Naturalist started with: "Few persons, probably, even among ornithologists, realize what an enormous number of birds are killed by flying against these wires, which now form a murderous net-work over the greater part of the country. Until recently, I had myself no adequate idea of the destruction that is so quietly, insidiously, and uninterruptedly accomplished."

Prominent birds along the ride were Horned Larks and McCown's Longspurs.

The observant Dr. Coues - a preeminent ornithologist - wrote in further detail about the carcasses seen:

"Becoming interested in the matter, I began to count, and desisted only after actually counting a hundred in the course of one hour's leisurely riding - representing perhaps a distance of three miles. Nor was it long before I saw birds strike the wire, and fall stunned to the ground; three such cases were witnessed during the hour. One bird had its wing broken; another was picked up dying in convulsions from the force of the blow. The eyeballs of several dead ones I examined were started from their sockets, and the feathers of the forehead were torn off, indicating a violent blow upon the head; but in most cases there was left no outward mark of the fatal internal injury. Along some particular stretches of wire where, for whatever reason, birds had congregated, the dead ones averaged at least one to every interval between the poles; sometimes two or three lay together, showing where a flock had passed by, and had been decimated."

Most of the fatalities were larks, and about a dozen buntings. Other species "destroyed" by the telegraph wires were the Western Meadowlark and a Green-winged Teal.

Coues' summary: "Since we cannot conveniently abolish the telegraph, we must be content with fewer birds. The only moral I can discern is that larks must not fly against telegraph wires."

When contributor Dom Pedro (a pseudonym for Theo. R. Quay) of Pottsville, Pa., went angling on the Schuykill county waters, the small party noted that "game of every kind is very abundant," and held great promise for sportsmen in the pending fall and winter sporting season.

His article written on July 30, 1877, and issued in Forest and Stream, had this particular paragraph about the myriad of birds being killed by telegraph wires:

"Notwithstanding the frequent changes hurled at the illegitimate action of the destroyer of game birds by means of trapping, snaring, etc., and those disregarding the season for propagation, yet we feel there is pardon for him when we seriously contemplate the many hundred thousand birds killed annually by flying against the telegraph wires, which form a murderous network over the greater part of the country. In support of this assertion it is only necessary to give some facts observed during the few days of our rusticating, the most note-worthy of which was the finding of nearly one hundred dead birds in close proximity to the telegraph wire in a distance of four miles. Several of the birds we saw strike the wire and fall, and the appearance of those found dead was, in all respects, similar to that of those seen to strike and fall. Among them were a few young quails, flickers and robins; but the majority of the birds were larks, whose flight is singularly wayward and impulsive, which may account in a measure for their inability to clear the wire."

There was another notice of a strike in the obscure journal, Familiar Science and Fancier's Journal of May 1878, when "J.M. W." reported that a woodcock had killed by telegraph wires.

In 1879, a whistling swan was killed on March 28 when it struck a telegraph wire near Byron Station, Minnesota. This information was given in a brief article by H.W. Avery in Forest and Stream (12: 265) which published numerous items on bird distribution and occurrence, and the lore of their natural history.

A short few years later, an account was issued in the Canadian Sportsman and Naturalist issue of January 1883 indicated the international aspect of birds striking the wires:

"Woodcock in December. Early on the morning of the 16th December a man captured a woodcock which was running on the ground in the vicinity of Beaver Hall Terrace in this city. This fact would no have been ascertained, were it not for the not for the numerous telegraph wires which surround the streets. During the previous night, the bird in its southern flight, struck against a wire with force sufficient to take off the skin and feathers, from the front portion of the head, above the base of it's beak. Many woodcock are killed in the spring and fall by telegraph wires, as they migrate only at night, and generally fly low."

Some further morbid details were issued from Nebraska, in the April 1885 Auk article "Bird Fatality Along Nebraska Railroads" written by Edwin H. Barbour, associated with the university at Lincoln. His espoused view was that many of the Horned Larks found dead were because trains hit the larks congregated along the tracks across the plains barren of trees.

"There is a certain bird fatality along railroad lines which is charged to the telegraph wires. Doubtless they are the chief executioners, but not the dark destroyer of all the dead birds along our railroads. In Nebraska more fatality, as I believe, is to be charged to the moving train than to the wires. ... The prairie grasses are very short and give but little protection, and large numbers of misguided birds seek shelter in the lee of the steel rails of railroad tracks.

"These are almost wholly Horned Larks. As one walks along the track at night they fly up in considerable numbers from their dangerous shelter, especially in severe weather. The Larks are attracted thither as much by the food and the grain dribbled along the way by passing trains as by the protection which the treacherous rails offer. Crouching at night in the shelter of the rails, and stupefied by the noise and light of approaching trains they rise too late, are struck by the flying train, and thrown dead to either side of the track. I have seen them lying thus in scattered bunches of ten or a dozen. Railroad men say it is the work of the train, and such I believe it to be.

"It is the habit of these Larks to fly low, just skimming the surface of the ground, and it is highly improbable that they came to an untimely end by striking the telegraph wires."

Here are some more notes from 1889, among the notes for a collecting trip to Lac-qui-parle County, in Minnesota. George G. Cantwell wrote of the wires along the railway tracks:

Pinnated grouse.

"During my stay I was surprised at the large number of birds killed by flying against the telegraph wires. Although I was on the tracks very little of the time I found no less than six Ducks, two Field Plover, one Pectoral Sandpiper, and one Marsh Hawk killed by the wires, and on my way home I saw a Meadow Lark strike itself and fall as limp as a rag. Think of the large number that must have been hidden by the grass that I did not see. The section man assured me that in the fall it is no uncommon occurrence to find five or six dead Duck and Prairie Chickens along the track on his section, and that rarely a day passes that he does not find one or more. The Marsh Hawk mentioned I found hanging to the wire by his wing, which was broken and wrapped several times around.

"A Wood Duck had struck the wire full in the breast with such force as to sever the neck and lay the back open from side to side a distance of three inches. Think of the thousands that are killed in this way in the prairie regions, instances of which are too often laid at the collector's door by people who don't know any better."

At least Mr. Cantwell was "well pleased" with his delightful trip despite the comments of dead birds which ended his article in the journal, Ornithologist and Oologist.

Another pertinent article was published shortly thereafter when W. Otto Emerson took the time to write about the "destruction of birds by wire" in the Condor, another fledgling journal of those years. His notes were for 1898 and into the early 1900s.

Mentioned? Sandpipers, with 40 noted dead. The next day: remains of some "thirty odd" phalaropes and sandpipers. Emerson watched as the birds hit the wires.

"The destruction of shore birds goes on night and day the year round. I asked some of the salt-pond owners if they noticed birds flying against the wires. They said some mornings after the spring or fall flights, they had seen dozens lying along the road. Cats from warehouses and dwellings had learned the convenient larder and had grown fat, while Japanese and Italian workmen imitated the cats."

Lapse ahead and at the start of the 20th century, the Strand Magazine of January-June 1902 had this new information from the "Arcadian Calendar":

"Travelling, as many species on migration do, at night, there is always the risk of coming against a telegraph wire when descending, and the risk is doubled when there is a high wind. Birds are apt to take too much for granted when moving from place to place. When the first wires were stretched along the Highland railway the men working on the line found it well worth while to keep their eyes open when going to work in the morning; the grouse committed suicide by dozens every night against telegraph and fence wires."

For the woodcock, its character was summarized by William Beebe, in his 1906 book "The Bird, Its Form and Function in the chapter on senses:

"A woodcock tears through the thickest cover as if it were clear space, avoiding every obstacle. The only things to the accurate perception of which birds' eyes appear not to have accommodated themselves are telegraph-wires and light-houses; thousands of birds are annually hurled against these objects to their destruction." Page 208-209

William T. Hornaday described the threat in a succinct manner in his book about vanishing wildlife and "its extermination and preservation" in the section on the unseen foes of wild birds The deaths did make a difference to the numbers of birds. Once again the best words are the original verbiage, on page 77:

"Telegraph and Telephone Wires. - Mr. Daniel C. Beard has strongly called my attention to the slaughter of birds by telegraph wires that has come under his personal observation. His country home, at Redding, Connecticut, is near the main line of the New York, New Haven and Hartford Railway, along which a line of very large poles carries a great number of wires. The wires are so numerous that they form a barrier through which it is difficult for any bird to fly and come out alive and unhurt."

Note the blunt use of the word slaughter.

"Mr. Beard says that among the birds killed or crippled by flying against those wires near Redding he has seen the following species: olive backed thrush, white-throated sparrow and other sparrows, oriole, blue jay, rail, ruffed grouse, and woodcock. It is a common practice for employees of the railway, and others living along the line, to follow the line and pick up on one excursion enough birds for a pot-pie.

"Beyond question, the telegraph and telephone wires of the United States annually exact a heavy toll in bird life, and claim countless thousands of victims. They may well be set down as one of the unseen forces destructive to birds.

"Naturally, we ask, what can be done about it?

"I am told that in Scotland such slaughter is prevented by the attachment of small tags or dics to the telephone wires, at intervals of a few rods, sufficiently near that they attract the attention of flying birds, and reveal the line of an obstruction. This system should be adopted in all regions where the conditions are such that birds kill themselves against telegraph wires, and an excellent place to begin would be along the line of the N.Y., N.H. & H. railway."

History does not indicate if any such efforts were initiated.

In 1918, the Migratory Bird Treaty Act was a regulatory measure that was enacted, and could have a means to positively address the myriad of bird strike deaths during subsequent migratory passages that are a tradition of endless eons that began and continued to be hampered and inhibited by so many new and deadly structures.

Notes from the era of decades past that are mentioned are just the beginnings for bird mortality from human constructs. These known examples are followed decades with further bird strikes due to a continual and expansive spread of structures and wires for communication and power, towers to beam numbing television to the masses, and in the most recent decades, cellular towers are everywhere and beyond. Wind turbines are the latest obstruction poised above the land, in the skies which at some historic point were the haven for the winged ones.

So many birds are destroyed by striking lines of various sorts across the land. In the modern era there is such a vast array of power lines. A grid it's called. Add in buildings which pose dangers due to glass exteriors, wind power turbines, cellular and communications towers, television transmission towers, and other similarities.

Through the decades there has been continual destruction of birds striking something. Conditions now are a huge magnitude of danger greater than at the start of the 20th century. Or at the beginning of the most recent millenium.

Couple Strive to Protect Rural Business from Turbine Development

With the ongoing rush for developing wind power, potential changes have had a great personal impact for a couple in Nebraska.

Ed and Maxine Wehling at their rural Custer County home and business. Photo provided by the couple.

For Ed and Maxine Wehling, operating a vineyard business in rural Custer County, a proposal for a 60-80 turbine wind farm would place their property right in the midst of the turbines and distribution lines.

The project is being developed by BP Alternative Energy NA Inc.

“We were asked by BP representative Laurie Mazer to host the overhead transmission lines, to run South on our ground, which extends beyond the copy of this map,” the Wehlings explained in an email. ”We asked Ms. Mazer if the lines could be buried, and discussed with her our concerns that overhead lines could be problematic to birds. BP declined to do so.”

“The approach BP initially used was to quietly sign up land leases from our neighbors, and we were asked not to discuss the project with others. Many neighbors are just now learning that a project has been proposed since around 2005, when the first meteorological tower was installed. Orion Energy was the original developer, later bought by BP.

“Mazer only presented the financial gain and positive aspects of the wind project to us, so we feel there has been a lack of education and awareness for our community that would include impacts to endangered wildlife.”

The Wehlings have concerns for migratory birds that they can see are not being addressed by the project developers. Their start for becoming informed on the issue began with gathering pertinent information from regulatory agencies and from a variety of resources available on the internet.

The project site is within the migratory corridor for the endangered whooping crane, and numerous other bird species of concern, according to information prepared by the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission and sent to the project developers in response for a consultation.

The agency said: “There are multiple recent records of the state and federally endangered whooping cranes in the proposed project area and in the surrounding areas” ... “Multiple records for the past ten years, and a family group using the area just outside of Merna this spring, confirm that this area is important habitat during migration. Placement of turbines in the proposed area could result in crane strikes and bird deaths.”

Also: “Placement of wind turbines in this area is a concern, as it is in the migration pathway of whooping cranes, as well as many shorebirds and songbirds that use the central flyway migration corridor.”

The agency letter said: “The Commission recommends that you consider alternate locations for the proposed project.”

Area for proposed turbine project in western Custer County, showing the Wehling property - the black box. Image courtesy of Ed and Maxine Wehling.

The Wehling’s agree and have been actively involved in working to not have the wind farm placed in Custer County.

“Our start for becoming informed on the potential threat to migrating birds was from websites such as National Wind Watch and Better Plan, Wisconsin where we met individuals such as Jim and Cheryl Congdon from Wisconsin, who fought to save the Horicon Marsh habitat from industrial turbines being placed one mile from whooping crane habitat.”

There is also an important report on considerations for siting turbine farms in Wyoming that shows the extent of natural resources that can be impacted, and an analysis that indicates suitable places for installing turbines Biodiversity Conservation Alliance. “This is the type of report that is needed for Nebraska,” they commented.

They read the report - Whooping Cranes and Wind Farms - Guidance for Assessment of Impacts – prepared by Tom Stehn, whooping crane biologist with the Fish and Wildlife Service, that discusses how large-scale development of wind farms in the Great Plains migratory corridor of the crane could created numerous hazards during migratory flights.

“A safe migration corridor is essential for protecting the cranes,” the Wehling’s said, “and this includes our area.”

They have also been in contact with other local FWS officials to express their concerns, and been involved in numerous other ways in their conservation effort:

• Meetings of the county zoning committee when activities related to the proposed project have been discussed. “We have made the effort to attend these meetings, and have encouraged neighbors to do the same, as they can.”
• Contacting state and national elected officials, including state senator Deb Fischer numerous times via email. Also, Congressman Adrian Smith, Sen. Ben Nelson, called Sen. Michael Johanns, and gave info to Gov. Dave Heineman.
• Contacted Nebraska Public Power District, whose representative has basically said that it is the wind developer's responsibility to comply with endangered species act, etc. “Since NPPD may eventually purchase a wind project, they should be actively involved with efforts to make sure there is no potential for whooping cranes to strike a turbine.”
• Visiting with a BP representative to learn that the company may want to participate in a Habitat Conservation Plan {HCP}, but with potential plans for construction of 2010. “We are not confident all impact studies, mitigation will be in place. BP utilizes the environmental consulting firm Western EcoSystems from Wyoming. We did contact them by email but no reply.”
• Contacted several environmental advocacy groups in Nebraska, and have gotten verbal support, but not a lot of action on this issue.

The next meeting with the county zoning board is February 10th at the county courthouse when the installation of two additional meteorological will be considered.

The Wehlings, added that the tower installed in 2005 needs to be moved 20' away from the road. “It never had a permit granted by the county, Orion Energy put the tower up on its own accord.”

“We support renewable energy, but at the same time want a balance with wildlife. It may be ironic that wind energy companies will say how ‘green’ their intentions are, but may ignore wildlife habitat.”

The Wehlings have not signed any contract to allow use of their property for the proposed development.

“BP Alternative should take the recommendations from wildlife authorities, and find an alternative site for the 60-80 wind turbine project. We feel, as more projects are commissioned, there needs to be a thorough evaluation on where projects are sited, with the long-term health of wildlife populations in mind.

“We hope the Obama administration will consider this as revenues are made available to promote wind developments in our state, and nation-wide.”

As the prospect for turbines looms over the Wehling’s country home, they know they are in a struggle to protect their life-style and the essential character of their business.

“We will do whatever we can to keep this project from being constructed when there are other more suitable sites to consider,” Ed and Maxine Wehling said. “Companies that develop green energy need to be certain their turbines are not a threat to migratory birds and do not ruin other important natural resources.”

Celebrating Birds in Poetic Expressions of 1850s California

Singing Birds

By Monadnock.

By the river, by the lake,

Where the silver ripples break;

In the dark sequestered glen;

In the crowded haunts of men;

In the woods from footsteps free,

In the garden apple tree, -

Wherever shadows flit around,

Little singing birds abound.

 

In the Northern land of storm,

'Mid the iceberg's awful form,

Under burning tropic skies,

Where the verdure never dies;

Where Siberian exiles roam,

In the cold and cheerless home; -

Where the Niger rolls his tide,

Little singing birds abide.

 

On Atlantic's rock-bound shore,

Where the sullen surges roar;

Where Pacific's calmer strand,

Leaves the gorgeous golden land;

In the lonely mountain glen, -

Homes of hardy mining men,

Washing gold with will so strong,

Birds are singing all day long.

 

In the valleys still and lowly,

Where the baffling brooks move slowly;

Where the mountain ash is waving,.

And the pines the storms are braving;

In the pastures spreading green,

Where the sportive lambs are seen;

Lights and shadows flitting round,

Little singing birds are found.

 

San Francisco, July 23d, 1856. In: August, 1856. Hutchings' Illustrated California Magazine 2(1): 87.

Spring Birds

By L.R. Goodman.

Sweet birds of Spring ! from sunny climes,

Where orange-groves are blooming,

You have returned; your notes and rhymes

With silver throats resuming: —

But when smile she, whose every strain

You emulated, come again?

 

When Autumn woods are fringed with gold,

And Autunm winds were sighing,

And you your tender farewells told

While terns find flowers were dying,

She bade us all a fond adieu,

And went away, sweet birds, with you.

 

The lark is piping to the sun,

The linnet loudly singing,

The noisy jay has just begun

To set the woodland ringing: —

But she no more shall wake the lay

That ushered in the golden day.

 

Mount up, sweet lark! above the skies,

Beyond the ken of mortals,

And catch the morning melodies

That float through Glory's portals;

Then bring to me her new-born lay,

And I will wipe each tear away

July, 1859. Hutchings' Illustrated California Magazine 4(1): 16.

To a Mocking Bird, Singing in a Tree
By John R. Ridge.

Sing on, thou little mocker, sing —

Sarcastic poet of the bowery clime!

Though full of scoff, thy notes are sweet

As ever tilled melodious rhyme!

I love thee for thy gracefulness,

And for thy jollity - such happiness!

Oh, I could seize it for my booty,

But that the deed would make thy music less.

 

Say, now, do not the feathery bands

Feel hatred for thy songs which mock their own!

And, as thou passest by, revile

Thee angrily, with envy in their tone?

Or are their little breasts too pure

To know the pangs our human bosoms feel?

Perhaps they love thee for that same,

And from thy sweetness new heart-gushes steal?

 

Upon the summit of yon tree

How gaily thou dost sing? how free from pain

Oh, would that my sad heart could bound

With half the Eden rapture of thy strain!

I then would mock at every tear

That falls where Sorrow's shaded fountains flow,

And smile at every sigh that heaves

In dark regret o'er some bewildering woe.

 

But mine is not thy breast- nor would

I place within its little core one sting

That goads my own, for all the bliss

That heartless robbery of thee would bring.

Ah no, still keep thy music-power,

The ever radiant glory of thy soul,

And let thy voice of melody

Soar on, as now, abhorrent of control.

 

Maybe, thou sing'st of heaven sometimes,

As raptured consciousness pervades thy breast;

Maybe, of some far home, where Love

O'er Bird-land spreads soft, cooling shades of rest.

If man, whose voice is far less sweet

Than thine, looks high for his eternal home

Oh say, do not thy dreamings too

To some green spot and habitation roam ?

 

If living thought can never die,

Why should thine own expire? If there is love

Within thy heart, it must live on,

Nor less than man's have dwelling-place above.

Thy notes shall then be brighter far

Than now they be! And I may listen, too,

With finer ear, and clearer soul,

Beneath a shade more soft, a sky more blue!

August, 1859. Hutchings' Illustrated California Magazine 4(2): 65.

Wrensian Perspective at Shadow Lake in Midtown River City

Amidst a discordant urban setting of a city along the middle Missouri River, there is a fine haven for the littlest of wrens. When the certain chills of autumn descend and linger on the central plains there is a small place - among others - that becomes a place of birdly importance, essential for species' survival as frigid winds of winter and torpid temperatures abscond upon the formerly pleasant times of the outdoors.

When the season transitions to its invigorating and lowly essence, after a brief night of migratory movement from the north, one avian species that arrived mostly goes unnoticed by nearly all of its larger worldly neighbors, after arriving to reside during several months of cold, and continuing a centuries old transition, but historically known by just a small handful of observant people, for only a relatively short one hundred years.

Winter Wren at the park

The first bit to recollect was written by Miles Greenleaf, while he was starting to write observations that would extend across subsequent decades and establish a profound legacy of bird history. One topic of importance was Elmwood Park, and in 1915, there was only a brief notation for avian species of interest.

A year later, perhaps after another outing to the park - created in 1890 - which was still at the western edge of an expanding city, there were further words of the winter wren in a December issue of the Omaha World-Herald. There was no author given for the bird editorial, but it was probably Miles Greenleaf. If it had been Sandy Griswold, the other prominent outdoor writer for this newspaper, his name would - no doubt - have been given.

"He is about the same size as the House Wren, but his tail is still shorter and points straight up to the zenith. He is ruddier in color, but his habits are about the same, for he lurks in the brush heaps and shrubbery along ravines and creek beds, busily scratching around for food like some tiny little winged mouse. Although he hasn't the rich, heartfelt warble of the Jenny, he has a neat little chirp that will attract you, and remind you of the summer to come.

"It is good to have the counterpart of Miss Jenny with us in the wintertime - and everyone should try to find Mr. and Mrs. Winter Wren during the next few weeks. They are not numerous - but they are here.

"God bless the Winter Wren!"

Bird attractions at the creek within the park continued to be featured in the journalistic writings of this bird enthusiast. This version was in a Bird Lore column of the thriving Omaha Bee News for October 1931. The words were succinct but expressive enough to convey that the subtly appreciated feathered mite had again arrived to tarry in the park environs.

His profound prose of a mostly forgotten era:

"This bird possibly isn't very well known to most of you, and cannot be unless you start looking for him when the frost begins to paint the remaining sumac in the ravines and God is sending down his last collection of glorified leaves from His treetops. Then, and even when the snow is deep about the protective weedplots and underbrush and sheltered gullies, you will find the winter wren - shrewd and lovely counterpart of his summer cousin!

"Zero is just another word with the winter wren, as it is with all our truly winter birds, so fascinating to study and to behold."

Phantasmic view of spring water at Shadow Lake

Lapse ahead another decade, and Greenleaf again had to write about a species noted during the winter which consistently captured his attention. This article was about the winter birds of Elmwood Park, done for the Omaha Sunday Bee News. A few words but enough to convey how the little wren acting like a mouse on the ground was a captivating topic.

In December 1940, Greenleaf wrote about the winter wren in a weekly publication of his own endeavor and initiative, the Dundee News. When writing his Birds and the Outdoors column for the winter, the winter wren was given further media attention in 1942 and 1944, then belatedly in 1950. This species was mentioned in the city newspaper, when there was little or nothing being scribed in the state ornithological journal.

Move ahead nearly five more decades for some more simple notes of revelation that this wren continued to subtly tarry in the park environs during its seasonal times. The wren continued to arrive for the winter, once the house wren had already gone south.

When Clyde and Emma Johnson, a couple that were two icons of ornithology for Nebraska, were on their particular incessant and regular walking forays to the park from their residence - a few blocks eastward on Leavenworth Street - to note the birds of their times, their notes recall the little wren, usually in the midst of its time at the city park during November to December.

A few years later - when it was a new millenium - another representative of the little wren dynamo was a winter resident. It was noted again and again with its bobbing behavior along the fringe of water kept open by warm subterranean springs, notable calls - readily heard by an aficionado of winter birds having a subtle presence - and always appreciated on a frigid morning when bundles of cloths are the required garb for a visitor.

The park setting for the feathered mite provided clues to understand those places where it preferred to reside elsewhere during the winter. Open water was of utmost importance.

Fresh and consistent water during the most frigid times of deep winter are the necessary requisite. If you'd take the time for a foray into the right spot, look and listen closely to view the little wren as it goes about its daily routine. There is no certainty and repeat visits should be expected, and requisite to recognize the habits. At times, the wren appears with a bit of a voice, then can be seen walking along the ground among the natural features whether it is a bunch of fallen tree branches or logs, or some rocks, or just on the edge of the steaming waters where a tasty tidbit can be snatched to provide a nourishing portion for a day's sustenance.

Surveys elsewhere at a myriad of other places with spring water, reveal some more essential moments with the wren. Locales included during a few years of looking: Spring Lake Park, Fontenelle Forest, up north along Ponca Creek at Hummel Park, and beyond into the north lands of the state. This species has been appreciated as well at a short tributary of Long Pine Creek near the village of the same name, westward up the Niobrara River at Buckhorn Springs, Tyler Creek and Falls, Sears Fall, Anderson Bridge WMA and below the cleft at Mogle Falls.

This winter resident is also elsewhere but no one has taken the opportunity to make a survey and determine the value of a some particular place as a refugium for birds during winter months.

Locally, Elmwood Park continues to be one special mecca within the city for the winter wren. As mundane days of winter continue to languish this little bunch of feathers provides a perspective to appreciate for the toils of existence in the harsh settings of winter on the plains.

Crystalline morning at wren haven

A nearby park provides the site where the wrensian view can be readily appreciated, without expenditure of gasoline and a flexibility to consider when to best capture the a view from the perspective of such a little bird species ... the wonderful winter wren in Nebraska.

Raptor Journal Published in Russia Helps Conservation World-wide

Two Booted Eagle chicks. Photo by Elvira Nikolenko.

A journal with a particular focus on raptors continues to be a leader in providing information for the conservation and management of species world-wide.

The current issue of Raptors Conservation - newsletter of the raptors of the East Europe and North Asia - released in December, has several important article on powerlines, for example. Articles in previous issues have also dealt with this topic and have been helpful in successful programs to conserve raptors, said Igor Karyakin, an editor from the Center of Field Studies.

"As soon as the information about certificated constructions for bird protection from electrocution was published in the journal," Karyakin said, "at once several regions began to equip power lines with those constructions though nobody tried to solve the problem of bird electrocution in the country during 30 years."

"Our journal has been published since January 2005 and already in the second issue (April 2005) there was an article about the results of a project, realized in 2003-2004 by a group of enthusiasts, that aimed to solve this problem in Kalmykiya," a republic in southwest Russia. "This project was successful enough and the wide distribution of the experience through our journal stimulated similar activities in other regions."

Three important articles on this topic are included in the current issue:

Cover of the current issue of Raptors Conservation.

1) "Protection of Birds from Electrocution on Power Lines in the Frames of Governmental and Non-Governmental Control on Management of Wildlife"

The article identifies the legal mandate to utilize measures that protect raptors from electrocution on power lines throughout the Russian Federation.

"One of the main documents that defines the necessity of protection of birds in connection to the exploitation of power and communication lines is ‘Requirement on prevention of death of animals in connection to the execution of manufacturing processes, as well as the use of ways, pipelines, communication and power lines’, approved by Decision No. 997 of the Government of the Russian Federation on 13.08.1996. Article 37 of this document declared that the power lines with voltage 6–10 kV should be equipped with bird-protective constructions." Tariffs are levied on the owners of lines where mortality occurs.

2) "Use of GIS Techniques in Estimating the Level of Birds of Prey Electrocution on 6–10 kV Power Lines in the Kinel Region of the Samara District"

3) "First Results from the Application and Estimation of Effectiveness of Modern Bird Protection Constructions on the 6–10 kV Power Lines in Russia" is an evaluation of the success of measures used to reduce raptor mortality.

"As an example, tracing the problem of power lines, the journal showed that the theme is acute for any steppe and forest-steppe regions of Russia, Kazakhstan and even Mexico," Karyakin said. "A huge number of birds die everywhere, especially along the routes for seasonal flights and migrations. When the extent of the problem becomes widely known, it is easier to attract the attention of the society and governmental actors to it.

"The beneficial experience of solving the problem of bird casualties was published from Kalmykiya, following which a project was realized by one active group in Nizhnii Novgorod. Further work was soon afterwards carried out in several regions; in Samara District, Republic of Tatarstan, Kirov District, Republic of Mariy-El, and Smolensk District. In 2008, a pilot project studying bird mortality on power lines was carried out in Tomsk region.

"In our journal we regularly illustrate the theme of bird mortality in connection to power lines, as it is indeed a very important theme, birds of prey having suffered from the economic activities of humans for a long time. At the moment in some regions nature conservation organizations are carrying out work in relation to this problem. It is in our interest to make this issue still more widely known.”

"The same applies to the realization of projects on attracting owls to nesting boxes. As soon as first successful results were obtained in Nizhniy Novgorod District, similar projects were started in Republic of Tatarstan and Samara District. In 2007 first similar projects were carried out in Novosibirsk District and from these the first, and successful, results appeared in 2008.

Cover of a past issue of Raptors Conservation.

"As soon as such information becomes available, it starts to use independently in other regions. For example for the first time in our country the project on artificial nests for raptors was began to realize, the information about which was published in 2005, to 2008 similar projects at the state level has been approved to realize in 7 regions.

"Of course we value the result of this publication as a very important achievement, as in this lie the conservation goals of our journal.

"Our journal is received almost all ornithologists researching birds of prey in Russia and all departments of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Nature Conservation, thus our main aim in the sphere of bird protection is distribution of the information about any nature conservation activities. This facilitates work with governmental bodies, when in separate regions the communities start projects in order to solve these problems. This helps substantially."

The journal includes details on raptors around the world that might be of interest to readers.

"Our readers are mainly concentrated in countries of the former Soviet Union. However, what is especially important for us is that the journal knows and values specialists from all over the world.

"For example, apart from problems of bird mortality on power lines in Mexico, we illustrated an example of population restoration work on peregrines in the state of Vermont (U.S.A.) from 2003-2005, the success of which shows that even with relatively simple means it is possible not only to preserve the existing natural treasures of birdlife, but also to restore already lost populations of birds of prey.

"The journal creates a forum for exchange of experience and opinions, and generates demand for scientific and conservation projects within the field; the audience is very interested in this area of activity."

The current 120-page issue includes news related to raptor conservation and management, reports on conferences and, of course, peer-reviewed articles, and short reports. Examples of notable articles include:

White-Tailed Eagle. Photograph by Sergey Bakka.

• "Imperial Eagle in Russia and Kazakhstan: Population Status and Trends"
• "Distribution of the Imperial Eagle in a Steppe Zone of Ukraine"
• "Attracting Ural Owls to Nest in the Outskirts of Akademgorodok, Novosibirsk, Russia"
• A wide-ranging article "Contraband of Rare Birds of Prey in Far East is Threat to Their Survival" identifies the travel routes used to illegally transfer captured falcons.
• "Monitoring Results on the Saker Falcon Population in the Altai-Sayan Region in 2008, Russia"
• "Locations of Goshawk Habitats in Vegetation Areas of Kerzhenskiy State Nature Reserve, Russia"

"Our journal consolidates the strength of ornithologists and bird lovers, the enthusiasts of birds of prey conservation," Karyakin said. "Birds, like nature overall, do not know boundaries. Similar processes in the populations take place over a vast territory, sometimes separated by several thousands of kilometers. However, ornithologists usually manage to observe the birds only within the limited territories that their studies can cover. Our publication offers the possibility to synthesize results from specialists from different parts of the former Soviet Union. After we have published a row of articles on some common theme from authors previously unknown to each other, these people start to communicate among themselves. After having been published in our journal, a useful experience from one region is taken up by specialists elsewhere. This is well reflected for example in the articles about attracting owls to nest boxes.

"Thanks to our journal, interest in raptors is increasing, among young scientists who are yet to find a focus for their work, as well as among enthusiasts, the bird watchers. Interest in raptor conservation is also growing among ornithologists.

"Successful projects in the sphere of bird conservation, the information about which is published on pages of our journal, inspire more and more people in the regions to use the positive experience and carry out similar projects."

Access to the complete issue is available via a link on the home page of the Siberian Environmental Center. Most articles are published in Russian and English. The printed version has a colour cover and black-and-white pages, while the online version has the numerous maps, illustrations and photographs in colour.

"If there’s no additional sponsor's support, we publish stably 3 issues each year," said Elvira Nikolenko. "If any fund or other sponsors support the edition we publish a 4th issue, as a rule, it’s devoted to a theme which is interested the sponsor's organization."

Initiative to Restore Natural Ecosystem on Henderson Island

Planning is underway to eradicate rats and restore the natural ecosystem on Henderson Island, one of the four Pitcairn Islands in the southern Pacific Ocean.

North shore of Henderson Island. Picture courtesy of Angela K. Kepler, and available at the Pacific Biodiversity Information Forum.

The 3,700 hectare island - measuring 6 miles (9.6 km) long and 3.2 miles (5.1 km) wide - is one of the "world's best remaining examples of an uplifted coral atoll." In 1988 it was designated as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO, and given worldwide recognition for its unaltered natural character and variety of endemic species of birds, plants, insects and snails.

Birds: The flightless Henderson crake, Henderson fruit-dove, Henderson reed-warbler, and the especially rare Henderson lorikeet; these four species are listed as being vulnerable to extinction on the IUCN Red List. A few species have already been extirpated, including three doves and a sandpiper, as well as a shearwater species and the globally threatened white-throated storm-petrel, according to the kiore eradication feasibility report. An estimated 50,000-80,000 pairs of seabirds nest, representing a dozen species: Henderson petrel, Murphy’s petrel, kermadec petrel, herald petrel, red-tailed tropicbird, masked booby, red-footed booby, great frigatebird, fairy/white tern, blue-grey noddy, brown noddy and black noddy.

Plants: The flora includes nine endemic plant taxa, and five globally threatened flowering plant species

Snails: at least six of 22 land snail species disappeared because of the Polynesian impact, about half of those remaining are endemic, according to the feasibility study.

Insects: Some 20% of insects present today (ca. 180 species) are believed endemic.

These unique characteristics have brought the island special recognition as an Endemic Bird Area, an Important Bird Area, and an Alliance for Zero Extinction Site.

When Henderson Island was recognized as a World Heritage Site, there was a requirement to produce a Management Plan. The plan adopted includes an objective "to control or eradicate, where necessary and feasible, alien species that are already at Henderson Island."

This objective is one reason for the initiative to eradicate the Kiore, introduced hundreds of years ago by Polynesians which initially occupied the island early in ca. A.D. 700, and for at least the following six centuries, according to archeological findings. These people introduced the rats.

"… as long as Pacific rats remain on Henderson, the Henderson Petrel’s only known significant breeding site, the species is destined for extinction" - Feasibility study for kiore eradication on Henderson Island

"The subtle impacts of rats on plants and invertebrates are not known, but, based on other islands, undoubtedly bad," said Dr. Geoff M. Hilton, a principal conservation scientist, with the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds. "However, what we do know about is their impact on the nesting seabirds. Henderson is a global headquarters for the most oceanic of all seabird groups - the gadfly petrels. Although four different gadfly petrels still nest on the island, we now believe that they have been in slow, inexorable decline for hundreds of years, and that numbers were 10 to 100 times higher before the rats arrived. The rats kill and eat almost all of the newly hatched chicks, and so the petrels produce incredibly few fledglings.

"Of most concern is the Henderson petrel, known to nest only on the island, which we believe is facing extinction. Because they are such long-lived birds, they are not likely to disappear entirely in the next few years, but they are gradually heading down the slope. Removing the rats would restore normal breeding success at a stroke, and allow the seabirds to gradually recover to their former glory, averting extinction for Henderson petrel."

Planning is now underway for an expedition to the remote island.

"We are planning on having a five person team on Henderson Island for seven weeks in August-September 2009," Hilton said. "This team will include one of the very few biologists ever to have worked on Henderson before; one or two experts on island restoration and rodent eradication; and hopefully a Pitcairn islander."

"Organising this preliminary fieldwork trip is a pretty major undertaking, because Henderson is so remote, entirely without infrastructure and indeed fresh water.

"Their task will be to conduct a variety of bits of fieldwork that will pave the way for an actual eradication project in the future. It’s essentially clearing up the unknowns that the Feasibility Study threw up.

"Specifically, we need to know how much of a problem the land-crabs might be to a poison bait spread. In other tropical island rat eradications, it has been found that land-crabs very much enjoy rat bait. It does them no harm, but if they are present in really large numbers they could actually eat so much that there isn't enough left for the rats - potentially jeopardising the operation. We need to check how many land-crabs there are on Henderson, how much bait they will eat, and how much bait we would therefore need in order to kill all the rats.

"Another work area will be to work out how we will ensure that in the event of a poison bait drop using a helicopter, we don't cause any permanent damage to the native wildlife we are trying to conserve. So we will be looking at whether endemic snail species and endemic landbirds might take bait; whether (in the case of snails) it will do them any harm (we already know it will harm birds); how we can effectively keep them in temporary captivity until the island is safe again."

During the evaluation visit, special attention will be given to how the Henderson Crake might be affected by the poison baits. Tests using colour-dyed baits will be conducted to evaluate this risk. If necessary, plans call for trapping these birds and holding them in captivity until the poison spread about would no longer be a danger.

"The idea is that, if all goes well with these work areas," Hilton said, "the decks would be clear to plan an eradication. In all probability, it would take two years of planning to pull off such an operation - the logistics would be very complicated, and you only get one go at it.

"One major stumbling block of course would be funding. The actual operation is likely to cost in the region of $2 million USD.

"Although it is a United Kingdom Overseas Territory, the UK has not hitherto been a generous funder of biodiversity conservation in the Overseas Territories, so there is no certainty that we will rapidly find the money. However, we are absolutely determined that the money will be found somehow!

"We are already actively looking for funds for an eventual eradication, both from private foundations and through lobbying the UK government. It is important to be clear though that this island is part of the Pitcairn group and nothing will happen unless and until the Pitcairn community are in agreement. So far, they have been very supportive, and we hope to build a strong partnership with them as we go forward, so that they can be fully involved in this exciting venture.

The project would be especially costly due to the lack of local resources since the island is 3000 miles from the closest continent. Eradication efforts would be conducted from a ship loaded with supplies obtained in New Zealand, according to the feasibility report. This floating headquarters would contain everything needed to spread the poison, and provide logistics support for the people involved.

Following the eradication of the predatory kiore, the feasibility report recognized several positive and immediate benefits:

• "Expansion of undetected relict populations of small petrels, perhaps storm-petrels.
• "Flushes of regeneration of those species of forest plants susceptible to suppression by virtue of palatability of fruit, attractiveness of seeds or vulnerability due to reproductive strategy
• "Benefits to fruit-dove and lorikeet from enhanced abundance of fruit and flowers, and possibly to warbler from enhanced invertebrate abundance. These benefits would be realised in increased populations sizes of the birds.
• "Reappearance of hitherto rarely seen or even unknown species of large invertebrates whose populations had been suppressed by rats.
• "Recolonisation by locally extirpated species of seabirds. For example on Raoul Island, these included blackwinged petrels (Pterodroma nigripennis) and wedge-tailed shearwaters (Puffinus pacificus). These two species and Christmas shearwater (Puffinus nativitatis) probably bred on Henderson in the past, and are therefore likely candidates for recolonisation. The globally Endangered Phoenix petrel (Pterodroma alba) is another possible (re)-colonist.

"To be involved in this programme is the sort of thing that conservationists dream about," Dr. Hilton said. "To be able to restore one of the world's great natural sites. This would not be the sort of damage limitation or finger-in-the-dyke exercise that we are so often forced into. There is no catch or trade-off here. This would deliver a genuine, major improvement in the fortunes of some highly threatened species. Creating a rat-free Henderson Island would truly be a wonderful contribution to the world’s natural heritage."

Web-links

Map and information on Henderson Island

Henderson Island World Heritage Site summary

Henderson Island management plan published in 2004

The distinct avifauna of the Pitcairn Islands has been recognized by a number of commemorative stamps.

The endemic land birds of Henderson Island, southeastern Polynesia: notes on natural history and conservation

Bird remains from an archaeological site on Henderson Island, South Pacific: Man-caused extinctions on an "uninhabited" island

Extinctions and new records of birds from Henderson Island, Pitcairn Group, South Pacific Ocean